


Meant to Be

by ennui_ephemera



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, But mostly fluff, F/M, Fluff, Katelyn POV, coffee shop au!, lots of fluff, with some very light angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-19
Updated: 2019-05-19
Packaged: 2020-03-08 01:57:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,695
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18885778
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ennui_ephemera/pseuds/ennui_ephemera
Summary: A teeth-rottingly fluffy Kaaron Coffee Shop AU for Kevinallday. Happy Birthday!! <3





	Meant to Be

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Kevinallday](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kevinallday/gifts).



> This is a day late but I hope you had a good birthday!! I love you :) <3

Katelyn had nearly finished wiping down the counters and straightening the cups by the register when the door jingled with the arrival of a new customer. The flow of customers in and out of the store had been steady that day, what with it being warm outside, the sun shining cheerily through the wide windows of the coffee shop. College students needed their caffeine fix, whether it was hot outside or not. Katelyn greeted the new customer as he walked up to the counter, the sun behind him lighting his blonde hair like a flame. 

“Medium caramel iced coffee with extra caramel,” he said without preamble. 

Unfazed by the customer’s lack of niceties – really, she was used to it after working at the shop for three months – Katelyn smiled and grabbed a medium from the stack next to her. “Name?” she asked, uncapping her black sharpie marker she kept tucked in her apron.

“Aaron,” he grunted. Before Katelyn even had time to write out his name, Aaron had his phone out in front of him, his attention elsewhere. Katelyn hitched an eyebrow and jotted down _Aron_ partially to spite him, but mostly because _Aaron_ was a stupid name anyway. (Aaron, she told herself, had no business hogging all the vowels.) 

Katelyn sent the cup with the order down the line to Marissa and jabbed the screen with her finger. “That’ll be $3.25.”

Aaron paid with cash and disappeared to the back on the café to wait for his drink. When Marissa called out his name, shooting an amused look towards Katelyn, Katelyn watched from the corner of her eyes. Aaron’s brow scrunched when he read his misspelled name, his eyes flickering from the cup to Katelyn. Katelyn met his confused scowl with a mischievous smile of her own.

~

It didn’t take long for Aaron to become a regular at the coffee shop. He usually came in a couple times a week near the end of her shift – not that Katelyn was keeping track. They established a routine; Aaron would tell her his name and Katelyn would spell it within the new parameter he set each time. _It’s spelled with two A’s_ , he would say. Katelyn would spell it _Aran_. 

_The two A’s are in the beginning. Aarin_.

_There’s supposed to be an O. Araon_.

Katelyn was surprised he hadn’t outright told her how to spell his name letter by letter after the “Aaorn” incident, but if the smile twitching at the corner of his mouth was anything to go by, he didn’t seem to mind all that much. 

The bell above the door jingled and Katelyn felt her stomach do a little flip. She _hadn’t_ been waiting for Aaron all day, she was simply excited to be done with her shift for the day. It had to be some sort of Pavlovian response. 

Marissa leaned over the counter from where she was organizing the display of cookies and scones with a smirk. “It’s your boyfriend,” she teased in a whisper. Katelyn swatted her away with a shush. She felt her face heat up, something Katelyn desperately hoped Aaron wouldn’t notice. 

Aaron’s face split into a small smile when he saw Katelyn at the counter. Her stomach did another somersault, twisting all into knots. Katelyn smoothed her hands down her apron, doing her best to hide the redness in her cheeks. 

“Hey,” Aaron said. “Just a medium caramel iced coffee.”

“Extra caramel?” Katelyn asked. 

“Three pumps.”

“Rough day, huh?”

“Hardly,” Aaron said, eyes shifting to the counter. Did Katelyn imagine the nervous twitch of his hands? “Just could use some courage, is all.”

“Hmm,” Katelyn hummed. She considered the cup in her hands, the felt-marker tip poised about it. _Airin_ , she decided to write. She passed the cup to Jonathon at the coffee machines and looked up to see Aaron watching her. Katelyn smiled again, nervous at the attention. Did Aaron always have that smattering of freckles across the bridge of his nose?

“$3.25,” she said. Aaron paid with a five and Katelyn gave him his change, her fingers brushing his in the barest touch. It was ridiculous that such a small touch could make butterflies explode in her stomach. 

“Thanks,” Aaron said. Katelyn expected him to retreat to the tables at the back of the café like he usually did, but today he lingered. Katelyn thought perhaps he wanted to order something else and thought about recommending the macadamia nut cookies. They were her favorites, and fresh out of the oven. 

“I was wondering,” Aaron began, not meeting Katelyn’s eyes, “if you wanted to get lunch sometime?”

Katelyn grinned. “Not coffee?”

Aaron looked up at her teasing tone and huffed a laugh. “Thought you might be a little sick of it. And I know a place on campus that’s pretty nice.”

“That sounds great. I get out of class at one tomorrow if you’re free then?”

“That works for me. I’ll meet you here?”

Katelyn nodded. 

“Cool,” Aaron said, shoving his hands in his pockets. He still had that little smile tugging at the corner of his lips. “See you then.”

Aaron began to walk away, heading for the door. “Aaron wait!” Katelyn called after him. Aaron spun around. “You forgot your drink.”

“Oh.” Aaron cleared his throat. “Right. Thanks.”

Aaron grabbed his coffee and left with an awkward half wave. Katelyn watched the door close behind him, and turned to see Marissa and Jonathon smirking at her. Marissa swooned and Jonathon caught her, both of them laughing as Katelyn brushed past them to hide behind the cookie display. 

“Not funny,” Katelyn muttered. 

“Pretty funny,” Marissa replied. 

~

Aaron was waiting outside the coffee shop when Katelyn arrived. He wore a nice blue t-shirt and jeans, but Katelyn was pleased to see he hadn’t really done anything with his hair. She hadn’t noticed how much she liked the way the blond strands curled softly around his ears. He was leaned up against the window, looking in the opposite direction so he didn’t see Katelyn until she was right next to him. 

“Hey.” Aaron straightened when he saw Katelyn’s approach. He was still a couple inches shorter than Katelyn, but Katelyn didn’t mind, she liked being the tall one for once. 

“Hey.” Katelyn smiled and bumped his shoulder with her own. “After you.”

They chatted idly on the way to the little sandwich place tucked in the corner of Palmetto’s campus. Katelyn had never been, but she’d seen it every time she passed by on her way to her biology class. Turns out, Aaron had the same biology class, they just sat on opposite sides of the room. Katelyn mentioned being on the cheer team with her coworker, Marissa, and Aaron explained he was a backliner on the Exy team. 

Talking to him was amazingly easy. They rarely exchanged words after Aaron ordered and paid for his coffee, and a part of Katelyn was scared the entire lunch date would be stilted and awkward, but Aaron was content to let Katelyn talk, listening intently and adding little comments here and there. It was surprisingly refreshing. 

“How haven’t we met sooner?” Katelyn wondered out loud when they were seated in a small booth at the sandwich place. The light spilled out on the table in front of her, making little dappled patterns on the mahogany wood. Aaron, she noticed, looked golden in the lighting. “We share majors and we see each other at every game. We should have run into each other by now.”

Aaron took a considering sip of his water. “Maybe we have and just didn’t realized it.”

“True.” Katelyn dragged her finger through the condensation on the table. “Maybe it’s fate.”

The waitress placed their plates of sandwiches between them. Katelyn moved her cup out of the way and thanked her. Aaron was staring at the line of water on the table that Katelyn had been pushing around. “Fate,” he mused, a curious look on his face. 

~

More dates came after that, and more times Aaron came to the coffee shop. Sometimes he stayed after he collected his drink and chatted with Katelyn when it wasn’t busy. On her lunch breaks she would sit at the table where Aaron had scattered his textbooks and homework and tried to see how many jokes it took to get him to crack a smile. Sometimes they went to the library or Katelyn’s dorm room to study for an upcoming test or help each other out with their homework. 

Sometimes they snuck behind the back of the café and exchanged quick kisses in between Katelyn’s breaks and Aaron’s study sessions. 

It was during one such escapade that Aaron took Katelyn’s hands between his own and asked her to be his girlfriend. Katelyn had never been happier to say _yes_ to anything before in her life. Except for maybe when she accepted her enrollment to Palmetto State University. Maybe. 

“Acoelomate,” Katelyn read from the notecard, her head pillowed in Aaron’s lap. Her roommates were out, leaving the dorm room quiet and perfect for studying. It had been months since their first date, and she and Aaron had fallen into a comfortable routine. She was almost lulled to sleep by the rhythm of Aaron’s gentle fingers carding through her hair. She kept herself awake with the thought that the test was next week and they still had fifty notecards to go through. “Aaron.”

“Hmm?” Aaron hummed. Katelyn looked up to find him staring off into space. She wiggled around until she was half-sitting and half-slumped in Aaron’s lap. 

“You okay?” she asked. “You’re distracted.”

Aaron ran his thumb over her cheek, her eyebrow, back to her hair. “I’m good.”

Katelyn waited. She often found that waiting for Aaron prompted him to say more. Aaron’s eyes settled on her face. She was relieved to find him relaxed, his face open and warm. “Do you remember when we were talking about fate?” he asked. 

Katelyn sat up all the way and turned to face Aaron. He shifted so they were both sitting cross-legged, facing each other on the couch. “On our first date,” she said. “Why?”

“Do you believe in it?” Aaron asked. “Do you think it’s real?”

Katelyn chewed on her lip, her notecards long forgotten. “I think so. Do you?”

“I don’t know. I’ve never really thought about it before, but I’d like to think that it’s real. That it’s what brought us together.”

Katelyn felt a smile pulling at her lips. She slipped her arms around Aaron’s neck and pulled him closer. “Yeah?” she said in the crook of his neck. “You think we’re meant to be?”

“Isn’t that what fate means?” Aaron said. He dragged his hands down Katelyn’s back and maneuvered them so that she was pressed to the soft cushions of the couch underneath her, Aaron holding himself just a couple inches above her. Dapples of light played across his fair skin, lighting the sharp cut of his cheekbones and showcasing the edge of his jaw, the setting sun caressing his features one last time before it dipped below the horizon. 

Katelyn placed kisses to the dip of his cheek, the hollow of his throat, and caught his lips and drew him into a deep kiss. Her heart played a drum-beat rhythm in her chest. _Closer,_ it whispered. She splayed her hands across Aaron’s back and pulled him down, down down. 

Everything was perfect. 

~ 

Everything was perfect until Aaron didn’t answer his phone for the second day in a row. Katelyn didn’t see him in class, and he didn’t come to the coffee shop, either. She started to get worried when she called Aaron’s phone and it went straight to voicemail for the third time that day. 

“Did he say anything?” Jenny asked. Katelyn shook her head, her legs drawn up to her chest and her chin resting on her knees. 

“No, everything was fine and then he just – ”

“Dropped off the face of the earth?” Liz supplied. Katelyn frowned. 

It was fine a week ago, when their studying was interrupted with kisses and Aaron staying the night. Heat rushed to Katelyn’s cheeks when she thought about it, what they did. She pushed the warm memories away. Totally not helping. Aaron hadn’t said anything about needing space, or about this, _that_ not being what he wanted. 

“I guess he seemed a bit distant last time we hung out. But I just assumed he was tired or stressed or something.”

Jenny and Liz exchanged a look. “Do you think he might be seeing someone behind your back?” Jenny said in a conspiratorial whisper. 

Katelyn startled. “What? No – ”

“What if he just wanted to get in your pants and now that he has, he decided to dip?” Liz said. 

“I don’t think – ”

“What if he’s just not ready for the commitment?” Jenny said, covering her mouth with her hand. Her eyes were wide as saucers. 

“Girls!” Katelyn interrupted. “Not helping!”

Jenny and Liz quieted down. Katelyn rubbed at her eyes and shook her head. She felt a migraine coming on, starting in her temples. “Maybe I should just go talk to him.”

Liz and Jenny exchanged another look. Liz was suddenly focused on her nails and Jenny seemed to find something in her hair.

“What?” Katelyn asked.

Liz said, “Well, you don’t want to come off too clingy. You’ll just scare him away even more.”

Has Katelyn scared Aaron away? Katelyn shook her head again. “That doesn’t even make sense. Aaron is my boyfriend, I should be able to talk to him without being scared of being ‘too clingy’.”

Katelyn left them in the living room, with Jenny pursing her lips and Liz shooting her looks. 

~

Katelyn checked her phone before she left the dorm. Aaron still hadn’t texted her, but the last message she sent over two hours ago showed that he read it. Katelyn sighed. Something was clearly wrong if Aaron was ignoring her completely. She texted another quick message to tell him she was coming over and stowed her phone away. 

The sun had completely set by the time Katelyn made it to Fox Tower. She didn’t have a key fob to let her in, but a couple football players were returning from the gym and held the door open for her. Katelyn thanked them and took the stairs, content to let the football players have the elevator.

She had only been here a couple times before; usually she and Aaron studied at the library or went to Katelyn’s dorm for some alone time. When she knocked on the door, the it swung open to reveal a bored-looking Aaron cloaked in black. His stare was heavy on her, unblinking and unnerving. So not Aaron, then. She’d never met Aaron’s twin brother in person, but Aaron had mentioned him a couple times when she asked about his family. 

“Hey, Andrew? I’m Katelyn, Aaron’s – ”

Andrew waved his hand at her to shut up. “I don’t care.”

When Katelyn opened her mouth to respond, nothing came out. She blinked, trying to regroup when Andrew rolled his eyes and opened the door wider. “He’s in the bedroom being all pathetic.”

“Uh,” Katelyn said, still at a loss for words. Andrew sighed in exasperation and checked his phone. 

“I’ll be back in two hours. Be gone by then.” With that, Andrew slid past her and closed the door once Katelyn was inside. Katelyn stared at the door. That was so not how she envisioned meeting Aaron’s family. 

“Okay then…” Katelyn whispered to herself and ventured into the apartment. 

The bedroom door was unlocked when Katelyn tried the handle. Gently, she pushed it open. The room was gloomy with the curtains drawn and the lights off. Katelyn could just make out a lump in the middle of one of the beds. 

“I said I don’t want you around, And – ” Aaron said, throwing the blankets off. His face blanked when he saw Katelyn standing in the doorway, the light from the hallway throwing her in stark relief. 

“Kate?” he asked weakly. His face was pale and drawn in the low light. He looked like he hadn’t slept at all since Katelyn last saw him.

“Hi,” Katelyn said. 

“What are you doing here?”

“You weren’t answering your phone. I was worried.”

Aaron looked away. His fists clenched in the blanket and Katelyn saw his jaw tighten. His glare would have burned a hole through the mattress if it could. “Aaron, what’s going on?”

Aaron’s expression shuddered. Katelyn just wanted him to look at her. She sat next to himm on the edge of the mattress, careful to keep some space between them. Aaron didn’t react. 

“I failed,” he said, after minutes had already passed. 

“What?” 

“The test we took on Tuesday. I failed it.”

Katelyn frowned. “It was just one test. You’ll do better in the next one.”

Aaron shook his head, his lips pulling back in a sneer. “It’s not just a test. One test turns to two tests, then I’ve failed the course. If I keep failing then I’ll never be a doctor and I’ll be stuck in this stupid fucking cycle.”

“Aaron – ”

“You asked me if I believed in fate and I said I didn’t know,” Aaron said. Katelyn could only see his profile, a thin outline in the darkness. 

“You’re not making any sense,” Katelyn said. She reached for Aaron’s arm and Aaron jerked away from her. Despite herself, Katelyn felt tears well up in her eyes. Her throat started to close.

“Maybe fate is real. Maybe it’s not. All I know is that I’m ‘destined’ or whatever-the-fuck to fuck this up like I always do.” Aaron’s voice cracked. It was then that Katelyn realized he had been crying. 

“I was just going to mess it all up. With you, with school.” Aaron sniffed and rubbed his cheek with the heel of his hand. “I don’t want to mess it up.”

“So you, what? Decided to ghost me?” Katelyn asked. She kept her voice even, but she could hear the anger, the hurt. Aaron flinched. His chest heaved.

“Better do it now then wait until I screw it all up again.”

“That’s not fair, Aaron.”

“Life’s not fucking fair!” Aaron jumped up from the bed and paced the room. He dragged his hand through his hair, sending the curls into disarray. Katelyn pursed her lips. “If it were fair, I wouldn’t be like this. I wouldn’t – You would – ”

Aaron cut off, his breath drawn and uneven. He stopped pacing and faced the wall, his back turned to Katelyn. His shoulders shook and something in Katelyn broke at the fragility of it all. 

“Hey,” Katelyn said, catching Aaron’s hand in her own. She pulled him to her until they met in the middle of the room. He didn’t look at her, instead his eyes flicked to each corner of the room, like he could avoid her forever. “Hey, look at me. Look at me.”

Katelyn placed her hand on Aaron’s cheek and turned his head to her. She waited until Aaron met her eyes. “People make mistakes. That doesn’t mean they don’t deserve to have good things. You’re not going to mess this up, Aaron.”

“It’s not just that.” Aaron’s breath hitched. “I’m messed up. I don’t know how to do this.”

“And you think I do?” Katelyn laughed, but it wasn’t at all funny. “This is new for me too. But we’re supposed to do this together.”

Aaron let out a shuddery breath. “I don’t know why I get like this. Sometimes I just feel all bad, all wrong. It’s like everything’s messed up in my head. I don’t know.”

Katelyn cupped his face and drew gentle circles in his cheek. “I’m here, okay? I don’t need a perfect boyfriend and I don’t want one either, I want you.” Katelyn tilted Aaron’s head up. His brow was furrowed, unsure. “I want you, okay? We’ll figure this out together.”

Finally, finally, Aaron’s arms circled her waist and pulled her into a hesitant hug. Katelyn rested her chin atop Aaron’s head and ran soothing fingers up and down his spine, him tucked up against her. 

“I’m sorry,” he whispered. She kissed his forehead.

“It’s okay,” Katelyn said. Aaron shook his head. “We’ll talk about it later,” she amended and pulled him to the bed. 

Aaron scooted to the side until Katelyn could lay down with him on the mattress. It was a tight fit, but neither of them seemed to mind. Katelyn wrapped her arms around him and Aaron fit nicely against her like a puzzle, tucked against her chest. It wasn’t perfect, but it worked, and Katelyn didn’t want anything else. 

“I met your brother by the way. He seems like a real charmer.”

Aaron groaned. “Wait ‘til you meet his boyfriend. 

~ 

The door jingled with the arrival of a new customer and Katelyn felt herself smile. Marissa slipped behind her and nudged her in the back with an elbow. “Your boyfriend’s here,” she said as she passed by Katelyn.

Katelyn set down the mug she was polishing and leaned over the counter so Aaron could greet her with a kiss on her cheek. He pushed a paper bag from their favorite sandwich place over the counter. “I brought you lunch,” he said.

“Thanks.” Katelyn slipped the sandwiches under the counter and reminded herself to save an extra chocolate chip cookie to share with Aaron on her break. “How was your session with Betsy?”

Aaron shrugged. “Alright.” Katelyn waited him out. 

He sighed. “I think we’re starting to get somewhere.” 

“Good,” Katelyn said, and brushed her lips over Aaron’s knuckles. She saw her boss poke his head out from the back room and quickly hid behind the coffee machines. “I have to go. I’ll talk to you on my break, okay?”

“Talk to me now.” Aaron grinned. “I’m a paying customer.”

Katelyn returned his smile. “Caramel iced coffee?”

“Extra caramel.”

Katelyn grabbed a medium cup and uncapped her marker. She glanced at Aaron, a mischievous glint in her eye, to find him watching her with a soft smile. Grinning, she wrote, _Airon_ and passed the cup down the line.


End file.
